Max is a three-year-old labradoodle who suddenly started having trouble with separation anxiety. When his owner would leave her apartment he would bark, whine, and pace throughout the day. Putting on coats or shoes, or hearing keys jingle, all triggered Max’s troubling behavior. His owner was very worried that the other tenants in the building would start to complain.
We began by addressing the behaviors that reinforced Max’s anxiety. Max would constantly follow his owner from one room to the next. When a dog suffers from separation anxiety, continuing to allow such behavior encourages and supports extreme dependency. We taught max to lie down and stay on his mat, even in the presence of distractions, using treats and praise.
We also worked on desensitizing Max to the cues that triggered his anxiety by practicing the actions that Max associated with his owner’s departure. This helped reduced his anxiety when his owner really needed to leave. It was critical that his owner remained as calm as possible when coming and going. Dogs often adopt the mental state of their owners, and understanding that his owner was calm under stimulating or stressful situations greatly reduced Max's anxiety.
After just four weeks of slowly reacclimating Max to being alone, using positive reinforcement, and being neutral with him before leaving and when first arriving home, Max made a complete recovery. Watching Max's behavior on camera, we can see that when his owner leaves, he now briefly goes to the door and then returns to his mat. He sometimes plays with one of his favorite chew toys, or naps until his owner returns home.